Category Archives: Updates

Peter Lawton Photography and PDLstudios updates

All winter long I look forward to the snow and it’s ability to change the landscape. Here are a few selects from this past brutally cold winter in the Northeast. I hope that they can help cool you on these warm balmy summer days.

I picked up a near new demo “Elinchrom Bxri500 To-Go Kit” the other week after I exhausted myself searching for the best deal on some studio lights. I’ve been wanting to shoot some portraits and a few self promotional pieces and decided to go with this kit to get me started. I can say I’m not generally the one to buy the cheapest and upgrade later or to buy something that will get me by for the meantime. I chose this kit to last based on multiple reviews and weighed the portability, cost/repair and replacement with the most “pop” for the buck. Hopefully I made the correct decision. More information on the kit here: http://www.adorama.com/EL20758KIT.html

Here are a few test shots that I took over the weekend of myself and of a rather delicious roasted chicken. So far, I’m pleased with the recycle times and the quality of the light, but I have far more tests to make. Nothing special as far as the setup goes with these, but I added any relevant info after each shot for those interested. I used one light for all of these shots.

1st test: Black cloth background. Light set 45 degrees from my head right of camera, slightly elevated. This is me after a long day…

2nd test: Paper white background. Light set 45 degrees from my head right of camera, slightly elevated. I cleaned up a little for this one. =)

3rd test: Same setup with paper white background. Light set 45 degrees from my head right of camera, slightly elevated.

I posted my shot of Dee called “My Flower Amongst Other Flowers” last night and was happy to awake this morning with news that the picture had gained popularity on 500px.com. I shot this when Dee and I were on our way up to Portland, ME for a food inspired weekend getaway. Check it out here: http://500px.com/photo/49999922 Thanks in advance for any likes/votes/comments!

These are a few shots from my early am walk around the city. I really like the lighting on these and I hope that you will too.
I wish I were still there! Does anyone want to send me back? I had the best time roaming the streets of this historic city and I wish I could have shot every site this trip. Alas, there is only so many hours of good light in a day to capture these.

I was asked to shoot an event for the New York City Coalition Against Hunger this past Saturday evening. The event was a VIP screening for the film “A Place at the Table” and a panel discussion after. The panel consisted of Celebrity Chef/Executive Producer Tom Colicchio, Directors Kristi Jacobson & Lori Silverbush and Leading Hunger Advocate, Joel Berg. The event ran a total of 2 hrs and the discussion went really well. I hope that you will check this film out as it really digs deep into the hunger issue we have here in America.

About a week after Hurricane Sandy devastated New York City and New Jersey a nor’easter hit the region. I ventured out to the park to grab a few shots being very careful of where I walked and setup. There were a lot of trees that already took major damage from the hurricane and I was certain any trees weakened by Sandy would surely be a danger during this storm. I set up a few shots and stayed out for an hour or so. Just as I packed up a 90 foot widow-maker dropped with a thunderous cracking and deafening thud as it hit the ground. It fell only about 100-150 feet from me. I’m glad that I was cautious about picking my spot to setup! Here are 2 resulting shots from that night. I hope you enjoy them.

Here is a few shots that I took in the early hours of Saturday morning. These were taken in Brooklyn around 3am on February 9th 2013 during the Winter Storm Nemo. I geared up and headed out around 2:30am to check out the winter wonderland. This was about 1/2 way through the storm and there was about 5″ of snow at this point. I stayed up till 5am, but nothing really changed as far as accumulation so I called it a night. We ended up with around 8 inches–half of what they initially thought we would get.